Tag: free speech

Lega nel Mondo in Liverpool

February 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Matteo Salvini was the Deputy Prime Minister in Italy until the end of last year. He has been held responsible for a lot of the far right anti-immigration hate in Italy and has also been reported as saying he wanted a “mass-cleansing” of the country. Shortly after becoming Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister,  Salvini announced his intention to conduct a compulsory census of Italians in order to identify and deport Roma people from the country.

On 12th February the Italian senate formally authorised a criminal case against Salvini,  This is due to Salvini allegedly depriving 131  asylum-seekers, who were on board the Gregoretti coastguard ship, of their liberty, by not allowing them to disembark.  He will now be tried for kidnapping.

Unfortunately Salvini’s right-wing views have had support both in Italy and in other areas of the world. In 2018 Salvini ‘s party, The League, formed a global network of supporters. Some of The League’s supporters are in the UK and have organised a dinner at a restaurant in Liverpool for 28th March 2020, which has caused outrage amongst residents of Liverpool. The advert implies that Salvini will be present. However, since it was first published, Salvini has denied this,  saying that he will not be present, and that: “What is happening there is not a rally, but a dinner among supporters of the League in Liverpool – they are going to eat fish and chips.”

The Mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, said “division and hate” was not welcome in Liverpool and “the only audience he’ll find here is one that won’t be shy in telling him what they think of fascists like him.”

Liverpool has a strong history of opposing far-right visits to the city and standing up for what is right. They have had a 30-year boycott refusing to sell The Sun newspaper after the Hillsborough disaster.  We expect this event will not be ignored and that, if it does go ahead, there will most likely be protests and rallies.

 

 

Multilingualism is here to stay!

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We wrote our own blog post about an increase in hate crime incidents in Sheffield since Brexit, and the importance of supporting our international friends and students. Now, the Big Issue have also reported that EU members have been subjected to hate crime in Brighton & Hove and London amongst other places.

The crimes appear to be happening after members of the public hear people speaking in other languages apart from English. There is a lack of acceptance of different cultures by some individuals, and this is making people feel unsafe. The UK is a vast multicultural country where hundreds of different languages and dialects are spoken. We need to be proud of our multicultural community and celebrate the diversity that enhances our every day lives rather than persecute those who are different. Just because Brexit has happened does not mean other languages should disappear in the UK. The ability to speak more than one language is increasingly important nowadays and the people who live here who can do that should be appreciated more.

Perhaps the British public should learn from, as the Big Issue recall, the story of protesters in Warsaw. “After a man on a number 22 tram in Warsaw punched a university professor for speaking German to a visiting German colleague, protesters rode number 22 trams in Kraków speaking foreign languages and reading aloud from books in German and Russian.”

Sheffield LGBT+ Leaders call for cancellation of Franklin Graham Tour

January 19, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Franklin Graham is coming to visit 8 UK cities later this year as part of his tour which has already sparked protests in Florida.  One of the dates includes Sheffield Arena on 6th June. Graham is a close friend of Donald Trump and preached at his inauguration. He is the son of the late preacher, Billy Graham, who was also close to American presidents and preached to thousands of Christians across America.

Franklin Graham has previously said that he believes gay marriage is a sin.

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The Arena is managed by Sheffield City Trust and they have said they do not endorse Graham’s views but support the right to free speech. This has sparked criticism by community leaders in Sheffield who wrote a letter expressing their concern that his visit could lead to protests. The Bishop of Sheffield has also said, “Graham’s rhetoric is inflammatory and represents a risk to the social cohesion of Sheffield.” There has been widespread fury in the LGBT+ community and they have also called for the event to be cancelled.

22 members of the LGBT+ community, including members of the Sheffield Equality Hub Network, Sheffield Bi and Pan Social Group, the Progressive Catholic Church and the University of Sheffield have written a letter to the head of Sheffield City Trust, David Grey, stating:

“Franklin Graham has repeatedly publicly promoted his homophobic beliefs including, but not limited to, branding homosexuality a ‘sin’, claiming Satan was the architect of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, claiming gay people existing are causing a ‘moral 9/11’, declared gay people ‘the enemy’ of civilisation and advocates for the highly damaging abusive practice of gay conversion therapy.

We believe that these statements far exceed freedom of speech and are direct hate speech… which should not be welcomed in our city, or anywhere else.”

David Grey was reported by The Guardian as saying he had talked to faith leaders as well as South Yorkshire Police and  responded saying there was “a potential conflict between these two moral stances”.  He said that the event was not open to the public and “if individuals or groups aren’t breaking the law then their right to speak freely should be respected”.

The Guardian also reported that Heather Paterson, LGBT+ chair at the Equality Hub Network in the city and one of the signatories to the letter, said: “While Sheffield City Trust defend their position on the grounds of ‘free speech’, hate speech is not free speech. Graham’s rhetoric demonising some of our most vulnerable communities, referring to us as the enemies of civilisation and advocating for the harmful and abusive practice of conversion therapy, inspires and encourages these attacks. As a community we stand together to reject his attempts to spread further hatred and division in our city.”

On 25th January there will be a demonstration, at the Forge International Sports Centre, against Graham’s appearance: “Sheffield Against Hate Demo: Say No To Franklin Graham”.

Graham is also due to speak at the O2 arena and a petition has been started online to protest against his hate speech.

Freedom of speech should be respected. However, when freedom of speech promotes hatred against other people and has the potential to cause hate crime attacks, it needs to be stopped.

 

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